School begins again...

This is officially the last free day of the summer.  Hard to believe!!  Tomorrow begins teacher work week/training week/back to work week. 
I have had quite an enjoyable summer, full of relaxing, learning more Chinese, hanging out with friends, meeting new staff, and more.  I still find it hard to believe a year has passed!!  Before I know it, I'll be packing and getting ready to go home for summer off!   
On a really happy high note:  I have officially purchased my tickets for Japan over Christmas Break!!  I get to spend 3 whole days and parts of 2 other days with my friend that I haven't seen since graduation!!  I'm really looking forward to this trip!  I get to go to two different countries in two months!!  Thailand in November and Japan in December!!  Yay!!

Summer's almost over :(

Staff have begun to return to Wuxi, which marks the beginning of the end of the summer.  New staff are also arriving, bringing nice fresh faces to our school!  Two girls have gotten here already, and we're expecting another family tomorrow.  It's fun meeting all of these new people, and welcoming them into our family. 

I can't believe that this will be my 2nd year teaching, (unless you count the year of subbing...)  The number of students in my class keeps changing, but it should be somewhere around 9-11, with the probability of growing as the year progresses.  When school begins again, I'll have to train a whole new set of students.  Dad--I am beginning to understand what you meant when it was hard to train a new set of students each year.  I'm sure I'll understand even more once the year actually begins.  There must be a special place in the heart of a teacher for their very first class.  I can't believe that when the students come back on Aug. 13th, that the students I had last year won't be mine any more.  I'll see them in the halls, but they aren't in my class any more...that will be a hard adjustment.  However, I am looking forward to my new class!  There are challenges that will come with this new group (including three boys that I know will prove QUITE challenging, since all three have difficulties sitting still, following directions, and more...)  Two of them were here last year, so maybe since we already know each other, that might be able to help things along...(That's me being optimistic...) 

A couple things I'm really looking forward to during the first semester: 
     Fall Holiday:  We actually get a whole week off in October for the Chinese celebration of Fall Festival.  Last year we had our conference during that week, so it wasn't really time off...This year our conference is later, so we get the whole week to ourselves!
     Thailand:  The conference I mentioned above is in November this year, and we get to go to Thailand!  I have done so much traveling this past year, and I know I'm not close to being done.  Yay for another stamp in my passport!!
    Japan:  I have a friend that recently moved to Japan to teach for 2 years.  We were talking a vew days ago, and we're hoping to work our schedules in such a way that I might be able to visit her over Christmas break in December :)  If this works out, yet another stamp for the passport!  I think I'll have to get more pages added to my passport when I go home next summer.  If I don't, I'll run out of space very soon with the different visas and stamps that will be put in there. 

Over the next 7-8 days, the rest of the staff will be trickling back!  It will be nice to have everyone back again.  Our apartment complex seems a lot quieter with a lot of the staff gone.  I'm ready to see everyone again!! 

Can't wait to see what Dad has in store for everyone over the next school year! 

xin de wen shi fei chang nan 新的文是非常难 (New Languages are really hard)

Learning a new language is HARD.  I had forgotten how difficult it is.  I took Spanish in High School, but that was easier for some reason.  Chinese, however, is difficult.  There are tons of ways of saying the same thing, dpending on what situation you are in, or just many different versions of the word. 
For example: 
*zhishi (只是), buguo (不过), danshi （但是), and keshi (可是) all mean “but.”  *You can say “hen ri,” “tai ri se," or "ri se le", and all of those mean "Really hot."

Then, you get into the territory of measure words.  I really am struggling with those.  In English, when counting something, we say the number, and then the noun.  In Chinese, they say the number, a measure word, and then the noun.  There are over 100 measure words...ugh...and I have only learned about 10, which I still have an awful time remembering which one I use when.  (If you want the huge list, go here:  Measure words.) 

To name a few: 
*bao--when counting packets, packages, or bundles of things (sweets, cigarettes, sugar, cookies, etc.)
*ben--for "volumes", bound print (books, magazines, dictionaries, notepads, textbooks, etc.)
*ce--volumes of books (not to be confused with one book from the above measure word.)
*da--sackfuls, pouchfuls, bagfuls, pocketfuls (sugar, flour, rice, etc.)
*fang--square things (ink stones, bacon)
*ge--individual things, people; this can also be used if you don't know the appropriate measure word, so I use this A LOT!!  (appropriate usages:  person, family members, students, questions, nation, etc.)

I could go on, and on, but I won't.  I would have to say that so far, this is the hardest part of Chinese...I am doing my best, being a good student and doing my homework, but it's hard!!  Is there any way I could get a copy of the Intersect in my head so that I could speak Chinese fluently??  (For those that don't get the reference--it's from the TV show Chuck.) 

Off to be good and attempt to study Chinese...wonder how much will stick??

One Year Later

This time last year, I was in New York for orientation before flying out to China.  It's hard to believe that so much has happened in one year! 
Last year, I would still have doubts that I would be able to be a good teacher, actually teach my students things, make a difference, etc.  One year later, and I know that I do have what it takes to teach, I can teach my students the material, and I don't have to listen to memories from college. 
Last year, I was nervous about moving half way around the world, to a different country, where I don't speak the language, and preparing to work with people I had never met before.  One year later, I'm loving life, can make my way around the city (even without knowing a ton of the language), and I LOVE my co-workers!  We're like one gigantic family transported to the middle of China :) 
Last year, I had been on 6 planes my entire life (2 of those were when I was in elementary school, 2 in April of 2011, and 2 in June of 2011.)  One year later, I have been on 20 (Counting the previous 6), and will be going on more in November when we fly to Thailand, and who knows how many more after that.
Last year, I was the new staff member, being introduced to a brand new city, new stores, new modes of transportation.  One year later, and I am now the returning staff, and will get to introduce the new staff members to our city. 
Last year, I was living at home with my family.  One year later, I have a roommate and we live very happily in an apartment in a entertaining neighborhood.
Last year, I was getting ready to move to a new city (and country), and wondering what it would be like to finally have a classroom of my own.  One year later, I absolutely LOVE my job (even though there are many stressful days mixed in, but that's life), and don't have any plans in the near future of leaving. 
Last year, I was very bad with directions.  One year later, and I can navigate my way through a foreign country, and even understand subway maps (if you know me well, you know how big of an accomplishment that is for me).  If only I could understand road maps as well as subway maps....

Looking back at all of these accomplishments, it makes me wonder what all will happen in this upcoming year.  I started the school year last year with 6 students, then went to 7, back to 6, up to 10, then 11, then 12, and ended the year with 11. I know my class this upcoming year will either be 12 or 13 for starters.  The cap for Kindergarten is 16, so I don't think I'll be growing as much as I did this past year.  It will also be a very international class:  Hong Kong, New Zealand (Chinese heritage, but holds a New Zealand passport somehow), Phillipines, Pakistan, Korea, one girl that is half Chinese, half Spanish and I'm not sure what her passport country is, and maybe more.  This will certainly be a very interesting year!!  I'm looking forward to all of the new experiences as well as the challenges :) 

Time Flies!

I am very sorry for not making a new post for a while.  Life has been getting really busy here, especially now that it is getting close to the end of the school year.

                It’s hard to believe that I have been living in China for almost a year.  There are times that it seems like just yesterday that I received the news that I had been accepted, and that I had a job here…packing everything up into 3 suitcases…going to the airport and saying goodbye to everyone…and now I’m almost done with my first year of teaching.  Where has all of the time gone? 

                This past year has been a year of growth, and learning.  Learning more about myself as a person and a teacher…growing in my teaching abilities…growing closer to Dad…learning that I do know what I am doing…learning what it feels like when your boss commends you on what a good job you are doing in your classroom…growing in my confidence of abilities…and learning what has and has not worked so that I can make my classroom next year much better. 

                My students do something that amazes me every single day.  Whether it is speaking a sentence using their growing English vocabulary…remembering something we taught them to figure out something they’re not sure of…recalling information that was taught months ago and answering problems correctly…telling me, “Teacher, I know how to do it…” when I try to help them…and so much more shows me that they have been paying attention, and that what I have been doing has indeed made an impact on their young lives.  Yes, there are hard days…days when I would love to pull my hair out, or eat way too much ice cream because it has been stressful, hard, aggravating, full of mistakes (made by students and/or teacher), or a combination of all of these.  However, it’s through days like these that we grow.  If life were full of perfect days, we wouldn’t learn from our mistakes, and realize what does and doesn’t work.  Sometimes, these hard days can not only be beneficial for the teacher, but can also be used to help the students learn and realize their mistakes.  There have certainly been a fair share of those types of those days this year!  However, there have been more of the happy days, where students show how much they can learn and pay attention that make the hard days seem less and less awful.

                In these remaining 13 ½ days of school, there is a crazy amount of stuff that has to be done…we have Transition Day on the 24^th (when the Kindergarteners get to experience a bit of 1^st grade); Field Day on the 25^th; an open house on June 2^nd; Kindergarten graduation on June 6^th; last day of school June 7^th; report cards need to be finished and printed; need to still teach the kids so many different things; and who knows what else might come up?  I know that when I get stressed thinking about everything that still needs to be done…just focus on the happy moments of the school year, and keep shooting up arrows to Dad!  He surely is an Awesome Dad!!

Spring Break 2012—Huangshan, China

So...I planned on posting this earlier, but I kept forgetting...

For Spring Break this year, I actually went to 2 different places.  On Sunday, a small group of us went to Shanghai for some swing dancing.  That was SOOOO much fun!! 

Then, on Wednesday evening, a different group of us took a night train headed for HuangShan (Yellow Mountains).  Being on a night train was a unique experience because there were no doors on our little compartments, so you either changed in the bathroom (not a smart idea since there was a squatie on the floor), under your covers, or slept in whatever you were wearing.  I ended up doing the third option. 

When we finally arrived, we ended up splitting into 2 groups--one group wanted to hike all the way from the bottom to the top of the mountain.  The other group took a cable car half way, and hiked the rest.  I chose the latter of the 2 options. 

View from the cable car

After we got off of the cable car, we had a lot of hiking to do.  And I mean A LOT.  It wasn't easy trails where all you do is walk on paths.  There were stairs...stairs...and more stairs!! 

These things are EVERYWHERE!!

Some of the stairs were easy because there would be about 3 of them, and then straight walking, 3 and then straight, etc.  Other times, it was very difficult becasue the stairs were continuous (like in the above picture) and some were at very steep angles.  One set of stairs we had to go up was so steep, you couldn't stand straight up.  You literally had to crawl up the stairs on your hands and knees. 

By the time we got to our hotel, I no longer had legs.  I had cooked spaghetti noodles attached to my hips.  But I was very pleased with myself that I had made it to the top w/o giving up!! 

The next morning we began the hike down the mountain.  We got up early so that we could see the sunrise.  I wasn't too keen on the idea because I was exhausted.  However, once we were at the place everyone had recommended, I was quite glad that I had gotten up early.  I really enjoyed seeing creation and everything that Dad had made.  It was breathtaking, and when the rays of the sun peeked over the horizon, I was overcome at the beauty of everything.  We really do have an awesome Dad!!

Shot I got of the sunrise.

For the next few hours, we continued to hike down the mountain, and down, and down...more and more stairs!!  I will say, going down stairs is waaaaaay more enjoyable (and easier) than going up. 



Shot on the way down.  The Yellow Mountains are famous in Chinese paintings.



Another picture from the trip down the mountain.



We made it to the cable car, and finished the rest of our journey.  However, there were still several hours until we had to catch the bus to the trainstation, so we toured the area at the base of the mountain.  We found a really fun ancient street that kind of reminded me of where I had been in China before.  There were little shops everywhere, and the majority of them were selling calligraphy stuff, chop blocks, and other odds and ends. 



This is a picture from the ancient street.



On the train ride back, all 5 of us were actually on the very top bunk...and there were 3 bunks in each stack.  I could not sit straight up in bed, which made things quite interesting.  However, thankfully, I was able to sleep.  We got to the trainstation here in Wuxi at 5 a.m., got a cab, and were back in our apts by 6 a.m.  Since it was a Saturday morning and I didn't have to be anywhere, I dumped my stuff on the floor, changed into PJs, and collapsed into bed. 

Spring Break was exhausting, but also tons of fun, and so many good memories!  However, I don't think I'll be going back to HuangShan for a while...Maybe they can put escalators in! 

Spirit Week 2012

Spirit week 2012 was full of fun outfits, lots of laughs, friendly competition, and much more.  As promised, here are pictures!



Monday:  PJ and Crazy Hair Day. 



Tuesday:  Twin Day







Wednesday:  Fashion Fail Day



Thursday:  Superhero or Cartoon Character Day.  A friend dressed up like Elastigirl from "The Incredibles."







We were watching the staff vs. students soccer game.  Not sure why they were hugging, but it was cute!

Friday was Fake-an-Injury Day, but I didn’t get any pictures from then. 

Over Spring Break, I got to go to Shanghai and Huang Shan (Yellow Mountains).  I will post more about that later, pictures included.  Enjoy these pictures!